7 countries still in competition, 6 former winners on the bench

With HC PPD Zagreb’s sensation and Flensburg's fortunate entry, the Last 16 matches of the VELUX EHF Champions League were completed on Sunday night. Seven different countries are represented by the quarter-finalists, to which Paris Saint-german Handball and FC Barcelona Lassa belong as group winners.

Here are some more facts and figures about the competition.

0 times since the implementation of the VELUX EHF FINAL4 in 2010, any champion defended their title - but Barcelona are already one step further as their predecessors Hamburg (2013) and Flensburg (2014) were already been eliminated in the Last 16 as defending champions.

1 time before – Kiel in 1997 – Zagreb eliminated a German club in a knock-out stage of the VELUX EHF Champions League, before they threw out Rhein-Neckar Löwen on Sunday.

1 club is part of both - male and female - EHF Champions League Quarter-finals: HC Vardar.

2 teams turned defeats in the first Last 16 legs into tickets to the quarter-finals: THW Kiel (29:33 at Szeged, 36:29 at home) and Zagreb (23:24 at home against Löwen, 31:29 at Mannheim).

1 goal in aggregate was the smallest margin in the Last 16 duels, scored by Vardar against Orlen Wisla Plock (55:54) and by Zagreb against Löwen (54:53).

1 of the current quarter-final pairings had already been take place since the implementation of the current playing system in the 2009/10 season: Barcelona vs Kiel in 2011. The Catalans eliminated the that time defending champions to later-on win their first ever trophy at Cologne.

2 teams made it straight from the group phase to the quarter-finals: PSG (winner of group A) and Barcelona (winner of group B).

2 clubs made it to the previous two quarter-finals in 2014 and 2015 but never made it to Cologne: Vardar and PSG.

3 former EHF Champions League winners representing 12 trophies are among those last eight teams, which made it to the quarter-finals: Barcelona (8), Kiel (3) and Flensburg (1). In addition, MVM Veszprém and Zagreb were finalists.

5 of the eight quarter-finalists have at least once been part of a VELUX EHF FINAL4: Barcelona (5 times/2 trophies), Kiel (5/2), Flensburg (1/1), Veszprem (2/0), Kielce (2/0).

6 of eight coaches of the quarter-finalists were leading their respective teams to at least one EHF Champions League title: Alfred Gislason (Kiel/3 titles, with Kiel/2 and Magdeburg), Talant Dujshebaev (KS Vive Tauron Kielce, 3 titles with BM Ciudad Real), Raul Gonzales (Vardar/3 titles as assistant coach of Ciudad Real), Xavi Pascual (Barcelona/2 with Barcelona), Ljubomir Vranjes (Flensburg/1 with Flensburg) and Noka Serdarusic (PSG/1 with Kiel).

7 of the eight current quarter-finalists were part of the same stage in the previous season: Barcelona, Veszprém, Kielce, Kiel, Vardar, Zagreb and PSG.

7 different countries are represented by the eight teams: Germany (2), Spain, France, Hungary, Poland, Croatia and Macedonia. Last year, it were seven nations, too, but with MOL-Pick Szeged a second Hungarian team joined instead of Flensburg.

12 goals each were scored by Anders Eggert (Flensburg) and Dragan Gajic (Montpellier) in their personal shoot-out in the second leg of the Last 16.

16 points - the optimum - were taken by Veszprém in all their eight home matches including the Last 16.

17 matches since the start of the group phase ended by a margin of +10 or more goals, 1 (Veszprem vs Zaporozhye 41:28)  in the Last 16.

17 times, including the current season, each THW Kiel and FC Barcelona Lassa qualified for the quarter-finals of the EHF Champions League. Thus, they are ahead of Veszprém (15), Zagreb (12), Flensburg (8), Vardar, Kielce and PSG (3 each).

18 goals in aggregate was the biggest margin in the Last 16 duels, scored by Veszprém against HC Motor Zaporozhye (70:52).

62 matches since the start of the group phase were attended by 5000 or more spectators, seven in the Last 16.

63 times, more than 60 goals were scored in all matches since the start of the group phase, 8 times it happened in the Last 16.

63 times in all matches since the start of the group phase, the away teams were the victors, five times it occurred in the Last 16.

107 goals, scored by Mikkel Hansen in only 14 matches, still mean the first place of the top scorer ranking, even though the PSG left back did not take part in the Last 16 matches. New number two is Dean Bombac (101), who will not score any more goals, as he and his club Pick Szeged were eliminated.

110 times in all matches since the start of the group phase, the home teams were the victors, six times it occurred in the Last 16.

10.849 was the average number of spectators in Zagreb’s eight home matches ahead of THW Kiel (9671 in average).

13.800 fans attended the match HC PPD Zagreb vs Rhein-Neckar Löwen, which is the highest attendance of all Last 16 matches.

24.321 spectators in total saw the two Last 16 matches of Löwen and Zagreb.

Highest score:

76 goals: HC Motor Zaporozhye vs Naturhouse La Rioja (39:37)

74 goals: HC Vardar vs IFK Kristianstad (38:36)

72 goals: RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko vs Besiktas Jimnastik Kulubu (43:29)

72 goals: Skjern Handbold vs HC Motor Zaporozhye (36:36)

72 goals: Besiktas Jimnastik Kulubu vs MVM Veszprém (34:38)

…

69 goals: MVM Veszprém vs HC Motor Zaporozhye (41:28/Last 16)

Lowest score:

39 goals: Skjern Handbold vs HC Metalurg (20:19)

40 goals: Tatran Presov vs Naturhouse La Rioja (19:21)

41 goals: RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko vs HC PPD Zagreb (20:21)

41 goals: HC PPD Zagreb vs MVM Veszprém (20:21)

41 goals: HC Metalurg vs Elverum Handball Herrer (22:19)

41 goals: HCM Baia Mare vs HC Metalurg (21:20)

…

47 goals: HC PPD Zagreb vs Rhein-Neckar Löwen (23:24/Last 16)

Biggest wins:

22 goals: Futebol Clube do Porto vs HC Vojvodina (37:15)

14 goals: Orlen Wisla Plock vs THW Kiel (23:37)

14 goals: RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko vs Besiktas Jimnastik Kulubu (43:29)

14 goals: Elverum Handball Herrer vs Skjern Handbold (23:37)

13 goals: MVM Veszprém vs HC Motor Zaporozhye (41:28/Last 16)

12 goals: Paris Saint-Germain Handball vs Besiktas Jimnastik Kulubu (40:28)

12 goals: KIF Kolding Kobenhavn vs Rhein-Neckar Löwen (18:30)

12 goals: HC Meshkov Brest vs HC Vojvodina (34:22)

Top scorers:

107 goals: Mikkel Hansen (Paris Saint-Germain Handball)

101 goals: Dean Bombac (MOL-Pick Szeged)

98 goals: Kiril Lazarov (FC Barcelona Lassa)

90 goals: Barys Pukhouski (HC Motor Zaporozhye)

89 goals: Rastko Stojkovic (HC Meshkov Brest)

Top scorers still in competition:

107 goals: Mikkel Hansen (Paris Saint-Germain Handball)

98 goals: Kiril Lazarov (FC Barcelona Lassa)

87 goals: Momir Ilic (MVM Veszprém)

87 goals: Anders Eggert (SG Flensburg-Handewitt)

82 goals: Marko Vujin (THW Kiel)

Biggest attendance of all matches:

15,200: HC PPD Zagreb vs Paris Saint-Germain Handball

15,200: HC PPD Zagreb vs MVM Veszprém

13,800: HC PPD Zagreb vs Rhein-Neckar Löwen (Last 16)

10,521: Rhein-Neckar Löwen vs HC PPD Zagreb (Last 16)

10,400: THW Kiel vs Paris Saint-Germain Handball

10,285: THW Kiel vs SG Flensburg-Handewitt

10,285: THW Kiel vs HC PPD Zagreb

10,000: HC PPD Zagreb vs Orlen Wisla Plock

10,000: HC PPD Zagreb vs RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko

10,000: THW Kiel vs MOL-Pick Szeged (Last 16)